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Is Your Paraben Habit Making You Fat or Worse... Causing Cancer?

In recent years PARABENS have become a very hot topic. Many of you may be wondering what parabens are, where you find them and why they should be avoided.

First, lets begin with the what: Parabens are a group of chemicals widely used as preservatives in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Parabens are effective preservatives in many types of formulas. These compounds, and their salts, are used primarily for their bacteriocidal and fungicidal properties.

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Where you find them is almost every cosmetic product. They can be found in shampoos, commercial moisturizers, shaving gels, personal lubricants, topical/parenteralpharmaceuticals, spray tanning solution and toothpaste. They are also used as food additives. Common parabens include methylparaben (E number E218), ethylparaben (E214), propylparaben (E216) and butylparaben. Less common parabens include isobutylparaben, isopropylparaben, benzylparaben and their sodium salts. These will always be listed in the ingredients section of the product you are purchasing.

Why should we care about parabens? Parabens are considered to be safe because of their low toxicity profile and their long history of safe use; however, a few recent studies have begun to challenge this view.

It seems as if parabens act as endocrine disruptors (they disrupt our hormone system), man or woman, estrogen or testosterone. What is an endocrine disruptor? Endocrine disruptors are chemical substances, primarily man-made synthetics, that interfere with the function of the endocrine/hormone system. These chemicals mimic, block or disrupt the actions of human (and animal) hormones and, unexpectedly, do more damage at low levels of exposure than at high levels.

These chemicals can also work in sinister yet subtle ways by disrupting the body's ability to produce adequate quantities of hormones or by interfering with the body's hormonal pathways. One single chemical can affect many parts of the endocrine system. Often minute amounts of several of these environmental hormone chemicals can combine to create effects thousands of times more potent than a single chemical.

The endocrine system regulates every function of the body. It consists of the thyroid, pituitary, and adrenal glands, the pancreas, the ovaries and the testes, all linked to the hypothalamus in the brain. The hypothalamus is like the mainframe computer of the body, sending signals to the glands that provide the instructions for creating hormones.

When you rub body care products on your body or hair dye on your scalp you can absorb or inhale synthetic chemicals that contain endocrine disruptors which may send false signals to your body's endocrine glands. When your glands are confused they cannot function normally and serious health problems result. In addition, when you bathe, whatever chemicals aren't absorbed by your body are washed down the drain into the drinking water supply, where they can cause a cascade of negative environmental problems. These endocrine disruptors are affecting algae and other microscopic life, fish, whales and birds. Humans are exposed when they drink the water and eat the fish contaminated by personal care product chemicals. The government has found sunscreen chemicals in fish and human breast milk.

Endocrine disruptors are stored in a body's fatty tissues and do not get flushed out with water, thus they accumulate over the years. It is now recognized that the dramatic increases of breast cancer, non-Hodgkins lymphoma and thyroid cancer have been linked to exposure to environmental estrogens. In particular, parabens mimic estrogen, a hormone necessary for a healthy menstruation, reproductive system and fat cell activity.A Scottish study found parabens in human breast tumors.

In the past twenty-five years in the US, alone, thyroid cancer has increased more than 45%, with more women being affected than men, and has become the number one cancer in children under age twenty, many of whom suffered from fetal endocrine disruption.

How can you protect yourself? Read every ingredient on every personal care product label and be suspicious of every chemical ingredient.

Arbonne products are paraben free, green, are swiss formulated but made in the USA. They are not owned by a big corporation such as Tom's of Maine and Burt Bees which have sold out to the companies that do use all these horrible chemicals in their products. Arbonne also has less than 1% of perservatives because they do not sit on shelves in stores. These products ship from the plant to your home. Any product on a shelf in a department store, Walmart, etc has at least 25% perservatives in them as they are required to have a minimum of 7 years shelf life. Not good!

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Ive been taking methadone liquid for pain relife every day for years,and vitamin c suplements,listed in the ingrediants for methadone are methyl hydroxybenzoate and propyl hydroxybenzoate.Sounds like thay are Parabens.have several health issues inclucing gastric problems,Has anyone else realised methadone lqd contains parabens.
appologies for dropping in to a womens site i imagine theres a lot of girls out there taking this stuff for whatever reason.Feel that this info should be posted as drinking it sounds scarey

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Ive been taking methadone liquid for pain relife every day for years,and vitamin c suplements,listed in the ingrediants for methadone are methyl hydroxybenzoate and propyl hydroxybenzoate.Sounds like thay are Parabens.have several health issues inclucing gastric problems,Has anyone else realised methadone lqd contains parabens.
appologies for dropping in to a womens site i imagine theres a lot of girls out there taking this stuff for whatever reason.Feel that this info should be posted as drinking it sounds scarey

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I find the Tom's of Maine line at Target, and no, it's not much more expensive than their competition. I like their natural toothpaste, too, by the way, but especially their deodorant which is free of aluminum. I make sure my 12-yr-old daughter uses the natural deodorant, especially since she now shaves under her arms. Wouldn't want aluminum or other scary metals, chemicals, etc. getting into her bloodstream like that, especially so near her breast tissue. That's a sure-fire way to get breast cancer!

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Paraben-Free Products are not necessarily more expensive than the conventional brands. Whole Foods is a good place to start as well as Trader Joes, but I have also recently started seeing the Walgreens near me starting to carry these brands and products.

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I stopped using off-the-shelf products long time ago. My favorites are products by Dr Hauschka, Naturopathica, Ferlow Botanicals, Barefoot Botanicals and Tom's of Maine (toothpaste). I am glad you posted this information.

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I've long been wary of antiperspirants and their connection to breast cancer. It's especially scary to think that when we shave our underarms, and possibly nick the skin, then the antiperspirant's dangerous chemicals will get directly in the bloodstream. Personally, I use Tom's of Maine natural deodorant and also have my teenage daughter use it as well.

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Dr. Susan, this was fascinating to me as I really wasn't aware of parabens. Is there anything a woman can do to determine if she has a sensitivity to products containing these chemicals? What can we be on the lookout for? Thanks for the great information.

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Some individuals actually have skin sensitivity to parabens and may develop a rash, but many see no physical reaction at all. The best advice is to avoid these and many other chemicals at all costs. We know that eating foods void of artificial colors and preservatives is an important factor in living a healthy lifestyle, but avoiding these chemical preservatives in products we put on on skin and body is equally important...our skin absorbs everything and apparently effects our body and health as a whole.

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